Joseph  thomas



(No Model.) 2 Sheet -sum 1,

J. THOMAS.

SEWING MACHINE FOR QUILTING.

Patented May 9, 1882.

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(No Model.)- V 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. THOMAS.

SEWING MACHINE FOR QUILTING. 1%. 257,786. Patented May 9, 1882.

Parent T FFICE.

JOSEPH THGMAS, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

SEWiNG-MACHINE FOR QUILTING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 257,786, dated May 9, 1882.

Application filed January 13, 1852. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JosEPH THOMAS, of Hoboken, county of Hudson, State of N ew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful I'mprovements in Sewing-Machines for Quilting, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to enable various styles or patterns of quilting to be performed by that class of sewing-machines having a 'row of needles adapted to be moved laterally over the goods, and feed-rollers adapted to draw the goods longitudinally under the needles; and it consists of certain improvements in the construction of the feedrollers, frame, and their operatingmechanism, by which they may be set and properlyactuated at different angles to the row of needles, thereby producing'diamond patterns of various angles corresponding to the angular position of the feed-rollers, or any pattern composed of curved lines of stitches may be produced by properly setting the feed -rollers and adjusting their actuating mechanism in relation to the needle-carryingframe-actuating device. Similar results may be obtained by adjusting the row of needles to fixed feedrollers; but I prefer to adjust the feed-rollers.

In the accompanyingdrawings, formingpart of this specification, Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a plan view of a sewing-machine with needlecarrying frame partly in section, and showing my improvements thereon. Fi 2, Sheetl, is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is a central section. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is an enlarged plan View of the feed-operating device. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is an elevation of the same. Fig. 6, Sheet 2, is a detached View of the feed ratchet-wheels. Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10, Sheet 2, represent a few styles of quilting.

The general construction of the machine is old, and may be here described in brief.

a represents the main frame; I), the driving-shaft, carrying the worm c, which meshes into a worm-wheel on the short shaft 01, on which is secured the cam 0, adapted, through the medium of the linkf, to move the frame 9, supported on the rollers 72, a distance equal to one stitch for every revolution of the driving-shaft. In this frame g are embraced the stitch-forming parts of the machine, which consist of the needle-bar, holding the row of needles and actuated by the shaft i, the presser-barj, the shuttle-carrierj, and guideplate 70. The needle-bar and shuttle-carrier are actuated by means of eccentrics, &c., from the main shaft 1) in the ordinary manner, such devices being omitted in the drawings to save confusion, and I do not claim anything relating thereto other than the combination, with the laterally-moving row of needles, of adjustable feed rollers, which I will now describe.

The feed-rollers l and l rotate in hearings on the light frame F, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) which is pivoted at one end to the. standard 1 and secured at the other end by means of a bolt, 1 to the curved slotted brackets. F. This bracket is shown at Fig. 1 as broken away; but its end would be extended so that the feedrollers may he placed at an angle of forty-five degrees to the row of needles i i, if desired.

Secured to the end of the shaft of the feed roller l is the bevel-wheel m, which meshes into the bevel-wheel m on the top of the short vertical shaft M, which passes through and forms the end pivot of the light frame 1 To this shaft m is secured the ratchet-wheel n, at the under side of which is placed the ratchetwheel a, fitted to freely turn on the shaft, but

adapted to be secured thereto by the set-screw.

a when desired. .Both of these ratchet-wheels n and a have the same number of teeth but the wheel a, as will be observed, is larger than the wheel a, and some of its teeth are cut down to the bottom of the teeth in ratchet n, and some much shallower, as shown at Fig. 6, so that the pawl 0, which is wide enough to take the teeth of both ratchets, actuates the ratchet a only when working in a the shallow teeth, and actuates both ratchets a and a, and so moves the feed-rollers l l equal to one stitbh, when in the deep teeth of the ratchet n. This pawl 0 is carried by the slide 0, which is operated by means of the cam 12, secured to the driving-shaft I).

The goods q to be quilted are placed in the roll on the shaft 1', supported in the frame 1", which is pivoted at one end to themain frame a at r and secured thereto at the other end by means of a bolt, 1- to a curved slotted bracket, 1", which is shown broken away at Fig. 1. This-roll of goods q is adjusted parallel to the feed-rollers ll, and the goods pass over the guide-plate 70, under the presser-bar j and row of needlest' 'i, and between the rollers Z Z, and from here to a winding-up roller. (Not shown.) The cam c is so shaped as to impart to the row of needles it an intermittent lateral reciprocating movement, the range of which equals the distance between the needles. The feedrollers l I may be caused to move the goods forward at each stitch made by the needles by locking the ratchet-wheel a to the shaft m by means of the set-screw 12 or by other suitable locking device. When the feed is so set and the feed-rollers l 1 arranged parallel to the row of needles t' t, then the sewing is represented by the dotted lines in Fig.7, the small circles it representing some of the needles, and the arrow 00 indicates the direction in which the goods move.

By referring to Fig. 6 it will be seen that one-half of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel n are shallow and the other half deep, so that when this wheel'is free to turn on the shaft m the feed-rollers Z Z remain stationary during the time the pawl 0 works in theshallow teeth, and are moved so as to feed the goods under the needles during the time the pawl works in the deep teeth, so as to engage the teeth of the ratchet n. This is the operation of the feed to produce diamond patterns, as shown by the dotted lines on the goods q in Figs. 1, 8, and 9, each one representing the feed-rollers l 1 set at difierent angles to the row of needles 'i t. In Figs. 8 and 9 the reference-letters are the same; so a description of the manner in which the work is done in one will answer for both.

The goods move in the direction as indicated by the arrow as, and the row of needles t' i move back and forth, as indicated by the arrows 00 09 Now, assume that the needles are respectively at s s s s s, the first needle being at s, the second one at s, and so on. The feed is inoperative while the needles are moved by their carrying-frame in direction of arrow at" from s to s, s to s, &c. The feed now moves the goods forward at the same time the needles are moved back in direction of arrow m and so'sew on the lines respectively from s to t, s to t, s to t, 860., each needle, by repetition of its movement as described, thus making the dividing-line between two adjacent rows of diamonds. By setting the goods at an angle to the row of needles and adjusting the feedroller-actuating device to work in unison with the needle-feed, patterns having curved lines, as represented at Fig. 10, may be produced. This design is produced by causing the needles to move laterally at the same time the feedrollers draw the goods at an angle thereunder, each needle thereby forming curved rows of stitches between the upper and lower parts of the lines of stitches formed by them, instead of straight lines, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the lower parts of such curved lines of the stitches of each needle meeting the upper parts of the curved lines of its adjacent needle, said curved lines being diagonal to the goods, as are the straight lines in Figs. 8 and 9, by reason of the angular movement of the goods under the needles. In fact, any continuous pattern may be sewed by each needle, as the combined action of the lateral feed of the needles and the longitudinal feed at any angle thereto of the feed-rollers imparts to the mam m, ratchet-wheels n and n, and operatingpawl 0, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. As a variable device for feed-rollers of sewing-machines, the plain ratchet a, secured rigidly to its shat't,-the ratchet-Wheel a, turning freely on the shaft adjacent thereto, and having teeth of varying depth, and operatingpawl 0', in combination, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the row of needles t'iwith the feed-rollers Z Z, carried by the frame Z which is pivoted at one end in close proximity to one end of the row of needles and secured at its other endto a curved slotted bracket, whereby the said feed-rollers may be set at different angles to the row of needles, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination, the row of needles t' t, the adjustable frames 1 and r, pivoted at one of their ends at the opposite sides and ends of the row of needles and secured at their other ends to curved slotted brackets, whereby they may be set at different angles to the row of needles and parallel to one another, said frame l being adapted to carry the feedrollers l I, and the said frame r being adapted to carry the roll of goods q, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at New York, county and State ot'New York, this 11th day of January, A. D. 1882.

JOSEPH THOMAS.

Witnesses:

H. D. WILLIAMS, FREDK. BALZ. 

